Final Fantasy 4
by Dxsib
Summary: A novelization to those people who don't have the game, Don't own characters, Portrayed by Square Enix
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

The ocean was spread as far as the eye could see as a ship slowly passed through; cutting a path through it that left a large wake because of the size of the ship. The ship, which had run this route many times before, was heading for a small little island town of Agart. The captain of the ship, a tall, slender, yet well-built man, with little above shoulder length sandy brown hair, looked over the side of the ship and watched as the ship broke through the grip of the water so that it could make its way towards the town. He looked up around towards the sky and could feel the heat of the sun hit his face. The heat was better here further south than his town of Mythrila.

"Captain Cecil." The captain didn't even turn his head when he responded.

"Yes, what do you need?" Cecil turned and looked at him and was a little surprised at the appearance of his crew. All of them had taken off their armor they were wearing and now were just in shirts and trousers.

"There is a storm ahead Captain and we wanted to know if you wanted us to stop, go around it or just go through it?" Cecil had to laugh at the last part because since he had been the captain of this ship, every storm they come upon he just had them go through it.

"Well first of all I want everyone in the crew to put their armor back on now. There are more monsters out there everyday and an unprepared crew could easily be killed."

"But Captain, the heat here is almost unbearable while we're wearing the armor, why can't we-"

"Like you said, almost unbearable so get it on right now. I will not lose my crew because you all think it's a bit too hot to wear the armor that could save you."

"Aye sir, and the storm?"

"Drop anchor here. We'll wait this one out, but get the armor on because when we are stopped we are easier prey. Double to guards tonight alright?"

"Aye sir." The crewman walked away and Cecil looked in the direction of the clouds. "We could easily go through that…ah no matter. This will give me some time to think anyway." Cecil walked down to his cabin and shut the door behind him.

Cecil sat in his cabin thinking about the items he was going to trade with Agart and then maybe head further on to Eblan to do some trading for Agart, and if Eblan had something he wanted, he would trade with them too. Cecil looked more at the maps and then heard a knock at the door.

"Who is it?" Cecil never even looked up from the maps.

"Who do you think it is?" Hearing the familiar voice Cecil lowered the map.

"Come in." The door opened up and his only real friend of the crew walked in. Kain. His full name was Kainele, but everyone just called him Kain. He was a lot like Cecil except his hair was more blonde than brown and he was just a little bit shorter than he was.

"Studying the maps again?"

"I just took over this ship only four months ago, I need to make sure I know my routes well."

"Understandable. I'm surprised that you stopped. For the storm that is."

"Yeah well I felt that I should give the men a little break. I have been running them hard lately. They deserve it." Cecil looked at the map one last time and put it away. Just as he went to take his seat again, the rain started to pour down on the roof of his cabin. "Well here comes that storm finally." Cecil took his seat and saw lightning and heard thunder as he lit another candle in the room. "So what brings you down here Kain?"

"I was just thinking of everything that has been going on lately. You heard of the rumors from Mysida right?"

"What? About the Red Wings of Baron attacking the town only a day before we arrived and taking their Water Crystal. I've been thinking about that too but with us not knowing anything about what happened exactly and why, we can't answer any questions we might have."

"That's true Cecil, but what if they go after the other crystals too, like Damcyan, Fabul, and Troia. What then?"

"Then we don't do a damn thing because Mythrila has never been in Baron's way before and if Baron ever did do anything to us, it's like not we could fight them at all. All we have is our mythril and nothing else. Yes we have people that can fight off monsters on the open sea and the like, but besides that, we can't stand up to an army, especially not one that has the power of the airships."

"Maybe you're right, but still. Baron is one of the most powerful kingdoms out there and if no one stops them now, then who will be able to later?"

"The problem right now is that no one, can stop Baron. The power of the airships and those Dragoons and now that they have people training as Dark Knights maybe, there is no way to stop them. If Baron doesn't stop himself, then the whole world is doomed." Kain looked right at his friend of many years and was about to say something, when they both heard footsteps running towards the door. The door burst open and a crewman ran in.

"Captain, monsters are attacking the ship!"

"How many?" Kain asked.

"About twenty or so sir, we are outnumbered out there." Kain looked right at his friend and they both knew at the same instant.

"Get everybody up on deck to fight immediately!" Cecil went over by his bed and grabbed his Mythril sword and saw Kain leaving his cabin. Cecil grabbed his cloak and put it on and went out after his crewman.

Soon, they got to the stairs leading outside and Cecil could hear the fighting and quickly climbed the stairs and got on deck.

As soon as he was fully outside, Cecil was completely soaked by the down pouring rain and saw some Eagles and Floating Eyes going around the ship. Cecil noticed a Floating Eye coming right towards him, he pushed his crewman out of the way and drew his sword. As the Floating Eye went to hit him, Cecil ducked out of the way and slashed the eye in the back, killing it instantly. Cecil looked up and started to move towards one of the other Floating Eyes and heard the cry of a Zuu. Cecil grasped his sword tighter but wasn't able to pinpoint the sound. As lightning flashed in the sky, he noticed a large area that wasn't illuminated when the sky flashed. Cecil tried to follow it, but his eyes hadn't had time to adjust to the darkness outside so he wasn't able to spot how it was flying. During his lapse, an Eagle was preparing to attack him, but Cecil noticed it right before it attacked and was able to kill it as it flew. Cecil started to head for some of the crew that was dealing with a Floating Eye when he again heard the Zuu and saw it again as lightning flashed in the sky. This time though, he was able to follow it and it turned and started to head down towards the ship. Cecil moved with the large, black bird as he could barely see it and when it got low enough to the ground, he slashed at it. He was able to hit underneath the body and the Zuu fell down on the deck. Just as he was about to deal the finishing blow, the bird hit him with its large wing right on his right arm. Cecil dropped his sword because the all rain had caused the handle to get very wet and hard to hold.

"Damn." He went to go grab it but as he turned around, he heard the Zuu cry in pain and fall limp on the deck. He strained his eyes to see who had killed it. A person came around from the other side and walked towards him.

"I won't always be there to help you Cecil."

"Shut up Kain. Let's finish these monsters off." Cecil picked up his sword again and the two of them spilt up.

In a few minutes, with the entire crew fighting on deck, all the monsters had been killed or had run away. Cecil met up with Kain after the fighting had ended and had started talking when the head of that night's guard came to them.

"Sir, a few of the men suffered minor injuries but nothing to serious."

Cecil studied the man for a minute and then said. "Take them down to get patched up, I don't need anyone getting infected on this trip, alright. How long did you notice the monsters coming?"

"Sir, all we noticed at first was the Zuu. The Eagles and Floating Eyes came at us out of nowhere. We didn't see them coming."

"I see. Issues everyone on the guard tonight bows and arrows so they can get them from a distance."

"Sir, all we have are Crossbows, not any regular bows sir."

"Well issue them anyway, understand?"

"Yes sir, it will be done right away sir." The man turned around and started to head towards the armory to get the weapons. Cecil looked up towards the sky as the rain continued to belt down on them and another lightning bolt went across the sky.

"I say we should get down below before we turn into water." Kain had a large smile on his face as the water from his hair ran down on his face, onto his lips.

"That's a good idea." Cecil turned towards the steps that lead downstairs and went to his room where he dried off and went to bed for a troubled night of sleep.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Cecil walked up on deck to nice bright sunny day and felt the wind blow through his hair. The ship had been under way since the first minutes of light outside. Cecil used to have to tell them to get the ship moving after a night, but the crew had got use to the way he worked and so he didn't need to be up to get the ship moving again. They had been going for a few hours and Cecil was now able to see Agart in the distance. Cecil pulled out his Mythril sword from its sheath and looked at it. The sword was made of the whitish, strong metal that only came from the mines around the town of Mythrila. The handle of the sword wasn't anything too elaborate, but it still had the look of elegance to it. The handle was made of regular iron that had been painted with a red color. Cecil put the sword back into the sheath and turned to head towards the bow of the ship. He went to the very front of the ship and looked towards the small island that Agart lied on. The only thing that set the island apart from the rest of the islands that were in the ocean was the giant mountain range that was north of the town. Cecil turned back around and looked around at his crewmen. They all had the armor on this time because of the lecture they had received the day before and each was carrying a crossbow with a full supply of arrows. Cecil nodded his approval and went to find Rog.

Finding Kain wasn't hard; he was almost always near the stern of the ship. Kain looked deep in thought when Cecil walked up behind him.

"Thinking about the Crystals again?"

"What do you think?"

"You might as well stop worrying about the Crystals, there's nothing either of us can do. Let's just worry about Agart, okay? We need to get this trade in today or we will be short on Gil for the crew."

"Yeah you're right. So how much do we need to trade to Agart today to make ends meet?"

"We need to sell at least 1,000 pounds of mythril to just make ends meet."

"That sure is a lot? Why so much?"

"All the repairs and upgrades done to the ship cost more than we thought but if we sell a thousand pounds to anyone, Eblan or Agart, it won't matter."

"Eblan has never wanted mythril, why would they start now?"

"I don't know. We have to try at least, don't we?"

"True. Maybe I should become a mercenary so I can get away from this ship and not worry about paying anyone."

"You know you would never do that."

"Wanna bet?"

"I don't need to, cause I know I'm right."

"Well…ah, you're right."

"See. Well we'll be at Agart soon so start getting everything ready, alright?"

"Okay." Kain turned around and started towards the cargo holds so that they could get the chocobo and the traveling carts to make the trip across land to Agart.

It was about the middle of the afternoon when they pulled into the docks near Agart. The rest of the sailing to Agart had been easy and the docks near the city were empty as usual. Getting the carts and the chocobos off the ship was easy. Cecil only took about a fourth of the crew with him on the traveling to Agart because areas near towns had fewer monsters than open parts of the world did. There were two people on the cart to control the chocobos and then there was about six or seven people walking around the cart. Cecil had made Kain stay at the ship to keep watch over it. Kain had easily agreed, not minded keeping an eye on the ship because there was never anything to do in Agart except trade. The cart had so much mythril in it that the chocobos were pulling the cart slower than most people could walk normally. Cecil was looking around keeping an out for any monsters because he didn't need to lose anyone now. He spotted something out of the corner of his eye and he stared in the direction that he saw the movement. Cecil pulled his sword out just a little bit and had the cart halt.

"If we get attacked by monsters, it won't do any good to try to have the cart run cause it would get chased down." Cecil continued to look around but then heard a noise from behind the cart. "Draw your weapons!" By the time he had rounded the cart, one of the monsters, which was a Sword Rat, had been killed. The rest of the monsters in the attacking party were just Imps and Imp Captains, nothing that his men couldn't handle. Cecil sheathed his sword again and told the cart to start moving even before the last Imp had been killed. Cecil headed towards the lead of the group and could see the smoke of chimneys coming from Agart as they drew closer to the town.

Back on the ship Kain looked onto the water. "Why isn't Cecil worrying more about Baron. Someone is going to have to do something. Maybe if the Monks of Fabul and the Ninja of Eblan worked together they could stop Baron. Maybe even Mysidia would want to help and lend a hand with their magic. Maybe then Baron could fall. Kain went back towards his quarters inside the ship.

Closing the door behind him, Kain looked at all the weapons he had gathered over his years with this ship, first with Cecil's father and now Cecil himself. "My whole life has been on this ship. I don't know what else I would call home if I lost this." Kain stared at the painting on the wall of the ship. It was Cecil, Cecil's father, and Kain. It had been done many years ago while the two boys had been nine or ten years old.

"I remember those days. I remember never having to worry about anything and now I'm the second on a trading ship with my best friend as captain." Kain turned towards his desk which held various items from around the world. On the desk was a ninja star from Eblan, a fighting suit from Fabul, an item from Mysidia that supposedly had magical powers in it, and also some plant from Troia. Kain had been the only one out of those three that had collected stuff from each place. Kain lay down on his bed and decided to get a quick nap before Cecil got back because the ship never had problems in port.

"If we do have problems the crew will come and-" and before he could finish the thought, he was asleep.

The cart rolled into the town and Cecil saw all the familiar buildings. All of the buildings had been made from stone from the nearby mountains, but due to earthquakes that frequented the area, most of the buildings had been reinforced with iron, which the town had mined from the nearby mines. Each of the buildings had the same brownish hue because of the stone in the area. Each building was rather small because of the small part of the island it took up. Mainly only the foundations had iron added to it to keep them from collapsing on itself from the inside out. He saw the building that held the bottomless well at the center of town. Cecil smiled when he remembered how Kain and him had dropped rocks and the like down it to see if it really was bottomless, and they had never heard a sound. Cecil looked to the left and saw the Observatory where the astrologer, Corio, studying the moon again.

"I wonder if anything has changed with that dead rock or if it's still dead." He then looked at the Inn where he stayed sometimes if he would be staying over night, but Cecil wanted to be on his way home tonight.

The Item Shop was also in there as well. I might need some more Potions and some more herbs to heal other injuries. Cecil started to lead the cart around the well and spotted the weapon and armor shop. The shop only sold very inexpensive iron items that were no where near the quality of the mythril he was bringing with him. They rounded the well all the way and saw the Mayor's house. All of the dealings of the town went through that one building and the Mayor. Just as they were approaching the house the Mayor walked out.

"Cecil, is that you?"

"Yes it is Mayor Dean, and I have plenty of mythril for you."

"How much are you carrying of it?"

"Well I'm carrying 4,500 pounds of it. How much do you need?"

"How much does it cost per pound?"

"100 gil per pound."

"Okay, we'll take all of it."

Contru almost fell over with surprise. That was 450,000 gil. "I mean no offense Mayor, but do you even have 450,000 gil to pay for the load?"

"Yes we do. We have made a good deal of money in selling our inexpensive iron around the world. The ninja of Eblan bought over 100,000 pounds of it, said they needed to produce more of their ninja stars and their swords."

"Where did you get that much iron from? You haven't been able to get that much out of the mines for awhile."

"Look around Cecil"

Cecil started to look around and noticed something; all the iron that had been on the houses for support was gone. "Are you replacing all the iron with mythril?"

"Yes we are, the earthquakes seem to be getting stronger and the iron isn't able to hold up much longer. We need the stronger, more flexible mythril to support our homes."

"I see. Well you know I only take full payment."

"I know, same policy as your father, be right back."

As the mayor vanished Cecil looked at his men and they started to unload the mythril out of the cart and he could almost see the relief on the chocobos faces as the weight vanished from their backs. Contru turned back around to see the mayor come out of the house with a rather large bag that looked hard to carry. The mayor put it down and looked at Cecil.

"Two more where that came from." The mayor turned to go back in but Cecil stopped him.

"Wait Mayor, I'll get one bag and I'll have one of my men get the other." Cecil motioned to one of the men and they both went inside the house. When they walked in they saw the neat and tidy manor the mayor kept his house in. They saw the bags on the table and Cecil grabbed the bigger one. When he lifted the weight he was a bit surprised at how heavy it was but was still able to lift it up easily. The other crewmen picked the other bag out and they brought both bags out and put them on the cart, where the other bag was already placed. When all the mythril was unloaded Cecil walked back over to the mayor to make sure he would be able to get the mythirl some place.

"Yes we'll be fine. We really can't wait."

"Wait for what?"

"The return of our ancestors."

"Oh goodness, here comes the stupid dwarf thing again." The people of Agart believed that they had come from some kind of under world where everyone was a dwarf. "So you think the earthquakes are a sign that they are coming back or something, that the opening will open back up in the mountains north of here?"

"Yes, but we don't want to be killed when it happens so we needed the mythril."

"Ok. Well I think my crew and I should be getting back to the ship, we have a couple days of journeying back to Mythrila."

"Alright, may Leviathan watch over you."

Cecil gathered up all of his men and they started to head out from the city. When they got outside the city Cecil looked towards the northern mountains.

"Could the dwarves be coming back…what am I thinking." He went to the head of the group as he saw the sun start to set over the western horizon. He quickened the pace so they could be back at the ship before complete dark.

"Yes, but we don't want to be killed when it happens so we needed the mythril."

"Ok. Well I think my crew and I should be getting back to the ship, we have a couple days of journeying back to Mythrila."

"Alright, may Leviathan watch over you."

Cecil gathered up all of his men and they started to head out from the city. When they got outside the city Cecil looked towards the northern mountains. "Could the dwarves be coming back…what am I thinking." He went to the head of the group as he saw the sun start to set over the western horizon. He quickened the pace so they could be back at the ship before complete dark.


	3. Chapter 3

New Characters Contru and Rog

Chapter 3

Cecil looked off the ship towards Fabul Castle as the sun was rising from over the mountain in the east. "Everything has just gone wrong." Cecil drew the sword he had just received from the King of Fabul. The Death sword shone in the light with its red glare. The sword looked like its blade was made from pure blood but it was just a normal iron blade that had been granted evil powers that could kill anything with one strike. Cecil had tested the sword out while traveling to the docks and even the tiniest scratch had caused a Sword Rat to die instantly. Cecil could feel the evil power flowing from it, calling him to-Cecil looked away from the sword and put it back in its sheath. Cecil then started to look over his new armor he was wearing. He had picked up the new armor in Fabul because of the Dark Knight who left the Death sword had also left everything else too. The armor was a dark black that seemed to cast a shadow from him. Cecil looked up towards some of the people on the ship. The first person he saw was the Summoner Rydia. She was just a small child of seven years, with green hair and clothes that a child would wear on any regular day. The small child was one of the most powerful people that had joined with Cecil during his travels. When Cecil and Kain had been ordered to attack the Village of Mist, where all the summoners lived, they had to defeat a dragon of mist guarding the entrance to the town but when they had killed the dragon, they had killed Rydia's mother. Kain had tried to kill Rydia but then Titan, another summon, saved her. Cecil had woken up with Rydia and took her to the nearest town and protected her from Baron soldiers.

"Kain…Why?" Cecil still couldn't understand what had happened. While Cecil, Yang, and Edward had been defending Fabul's Wind Crystal, Kain had appeared and attacked Cecil. After Kain had taken down Cecil, Golbez who was now the leader of the Red Wings, had come and had Kain take the Crystal and Golbez himself had taken Rosa.

"Rosa…I will save you, I promise." Cecil then looked over towards the young King of Damcyan, Edward, who had blue eyes with shoulder length blonde hair that was very fine. The young king had lost his entire family during the attack on Damcyan and even his wife too. Cecil had arrived at Damcyan shortly after the Red Wings had attacked the castle and taken their crystal. Cecil then looked as Yang, the monk they had saved on Mt. Hobs on their journey to Fabul. Yang was a very large man with a body build that was almost double Cecil, who was no small man. His hair had all been shaved off and only a small little pony tail from the top of his head down to his shoulders was behind his head.

"Are we all set to go?" Cecil started to walk away but Yang looked at him even more so.

"Cecil don't worry about Rosa. Once we find this Cid and have an airship, everything will be okay. So stop worrying." Cecil looked at the monk and turned and walked away.

"Cecil, why don't you take off that helmet so we can see what you look like under there?"

Cecil had been avoiding this until now but decided to just tell the truth finally. "I choose to keep this on because of the darkness that I carry and I want to hide what I am from the world." Cecil continued to walk until he was off the deck and in his room. Cecil could feel the ship start to move as they got under way.

Cecil had spent most of the morning in his cabin. He finally came out when it was almost noon.

"There he is!" Yang cried when he came on deck. "We were wondering if you had fallen off the ship."

Cecil was not amused at all by this. Edward walked towards Cecil, but instead of joining in, he asked a question.

"What is the plan exactly Cecil?"

Cecil hadn't expected that question to be asked but he was willing to answer it. "We will sneak into Baron and then find the engineer Cid. Once we find Cid, it's up to him to get us an airship." The plan seemed simple enough but who knew what else could go wrong. Cecil continued towards the bow of the ship and looked out at the sea. He remembered flying over this ocean only a few days ago as he had gone to Mysidia and took their Water Crystal. "Can they ever forgive me?" Cecil's thought continued as the ship moved on its course.

Contru walked up on deck and a cold wind blew onto him, making his hair move in the wind. The ship had just passed Mysidia and they had no need to stop, so they didn't. "With the speed we're going at we'll be home by midnight tonight." The winds had been on their side since leaving Agart so that the ship had gone that much faster then they thought. Contru spotted Rog walking towards him with something in his hand.

"What do you have in your hand Rog?"

"That stone from Mysidia, it's glowing." Rog opened his hand and Contru could see a dim white light emanating from the stone. It was hard to see in the bright sunlight but when Contru covered the sunlight from it, he could tell it was glowing.

"Do you have any clue what it means?"

"How the hell would I know Contru, the Elder gave it to me when I was thirteen years old."

"True. Well maybe we should've stopped but too late now. When did you notice it glowing?"

"Just a minute ago. It was buried in my stuff so I didn't notice until I cleaned up my cabin a little bit."

"I see. Well just keep it in sight and let me know if anything changes, okay?"

"Hey Contru, do you think it could have something to do with the stolen crystal?"

"I don't know, maybe. Only the Elder would know." Rog shrugged his shoulders and walked back under the deck.

"Maybe it does have something to do with the crystals. Maybe it's some kind of alarm that the crystals are being taken." Contru broke away from his thoughts and decided to check on the crew.

They had sailed all day and as dusk was approaching Cecil looked at the coming darkness.

"Darkness, the reality of what's inside of me. There is no light in here but yet how do I hold off the darkness from consuming me?" Cecil was at the bow of the ship and the water started to produce more waves than normal. Cecil looked down at the water and saw a whirlpool start to appear. Everyone in the group, including the entire crew, ran up to the bow of the ship to see.

"Oh my goodness, the sea monster Leviathan!" Just as the crewmember said that, a giant sea snake came out of the water. The ship started to shake with more violence as the captain tried to calm the crew down.

"Man your posts. Get the sails down, man your posts." Just as the captain finished the sentence the ship was hit by a large wave. Rydia lost her balance and went flying overboard.

"Rydia!" Yang jumped over the rail and into the water after Rydia.

"Yang! Rydia!" Just then another wave hit the ship sending Edward face first onto the deck.

"Edward!" Cecil rushed over to him but another wave hit the ship, sending him face first into the deck as well. Cecil start to hear everything go quiet and then the darkness over took him.

Contru's ship pulled into the docks near Mythrila at around midnight. The monsters had stayed away from them the entire trip so it had been a very peaceful one. Contru got his chocobo out of the stables near the docks and headed on his way home. The town was a little further north than the docks. Rog caught up with Contru. Rog had been asleep when the ship had come in and Contru had to wake him up. Rog still had sleep on his eyes as they rode their chocobos towards their small little hometown. Rog pulled out the stone and it looked even brighter at night.

"Is it brighter Rog?"

"No, it just looks brighter cause of the darkness." When Contru looked at it now, it seemed to be bright enough to light a dark hallway because of the level of light coming from it.

"Ah, I wonder what we will have to do tomorrow after we pay the crew and the laborers at the docks who had fixed the ship. I wonder what my father has in for us now."

Rog chuckled at this. Contru respected his father very much but the guy was a bit out there at times.

In just a little bit the two of them were heading into the moonlit town. Not a single soul was up at this hour. Right near the entrance to the left was the town Inn. It was large enough to suit all those who came to the town, which was never very many.

"I'm going home now. See you tomorrow morning."

"Night Rog. Next time try to stay awake until we get here."

"Okay Contru. Night."

Rog's house was right near the entrance as well, but across the street from the Inn. Rog got off his chocobo and walked it towards the stable at his house. Rog took off the saddle and lead the chocobo into it's stable.

Contru continued onward around the Inn and spotted the Weapon and Armor shops. That was the only place in the world that sold the Mythril equipment that was so well known around the world. Contru looked past those shops and saw the Item shop.

"Definitely have to go over there tomorrow with all this money I have." Contru turned towards his house however and headed into the stable. He hopped off his chocobo and took off its saddle. The chocobo then walked right into its own stable.

"Chocobos, such smart animals. Got to love them." Contru scratched behind the chocobo's ear and left the stable and into his house to get to his bed to sleep.

Contru woke up the next day about midmorning and walked into the house's small kitchen and grabbed an apple. He heard the door open and knew that his father had come back in.

"How did it go Contru?"

"It went really well. We sold all the Mythril to Agart and made 450,000 gil. They were able to pay for all of it."

"That's great. You pay the crew yet?"

"No. I'm meeting them at the docks today to pay them and the laborers who repaired the ship. We'll have plenty of money afterward."

"Good. Looks like lady luck has befallen you my boy. Just remember that trade won't always be so well."

"I know that Dad. I understand that and I've seen you do this stuff long enough to know what I'm doing."

"I know, I know. I just have to give you a hard time. Oh yeah, the Armor shop keeper wanted to see you today."

"Why? What did I do now?"

"Nothing. He just needs to talk to you about something that happened a couple of days ago while you were gone."

"Ok. Well might as well take care of it now." Contru finished the apple and threw the core into the trash as he walked out the door.

Contru got his chocobo out of the stable and rode it to the shop because he was going to head straight to the docks afterward. Contru jumped off the large bird and tied it on a post outside the shop. Contru went in and spotted the shopkeeper.

"Hello. My father said you wanted to talk to me about something."

"Yes Contru, yes." The old man sat back down on his stool behind the counter and rested himself against the wall. "A man came in here the day you left looking to buy armor."

"So what, lots of people come here looking for armor, what's the difference with this guy."

"This knight didn't come by ship, he came in here with airships, all of which we red."

"The Red Wings?"

"My only guess seeing as how Baron is the only one with airships."

"Was he a Dark Knight because I heard that the Red Wings captain was a Dark Knight."

"No he couldn't have been. His weapon was a spear."

"A Dragoon. I guess the Dark Knight lost the position."

"Well this Dragoon, as you call him, didn't seem to be there commander, he was just with them. There was another man in black armor with his face hidden that was the commander but-"

"He must've been the Dark Knight then."

"Contru, would you let me finish. As I was about to say the man didn't have a sword at all, he looked more like a mage of some sort."

"Hmm. This is strange because when we stopped at Mysidia their Water Crystal had been stolen just the day before by Baron."

"This sure is a strange turn of events here Contru."

"Yes it is. I think I'll be bringing all of my equipment with me on my next trip out, just in case. That all you wanted to talk to me about?"

"Yes. Nice seeing you again."

"You too." Contru left the shop and grabbed his chocobo.

"First the Item shop, then the docks." Contru led his chocobo towards the shop and tied it up and walked in to do his shopping.

Cecil could hear waves coming in near him and could feel water on him. Cecil opened his eyes and saw a huge open beach in front of him. "Where am I?" Cecil stood up and could feel the sand shift around in his armor and the water all over him. Cecil looked around and started to walk forward.

"Rydia! Yang! Edward!" Cecil yelled their names at the top of his lungs but no one responded. "I'm all alone again." Cecil started to walk forward and soon spotted the end to the beech. The area in front of him was a wide-open area of tall grass and nothing much else. Cecil looked to the eats and saw some smoke coming from over in that direction.

"Must be some sort of town over there." Cecil turned that direction and start for the town.

As Cecil approached the town he recognized it right away. "Mysidia…" Cecil started to think and remembered that there was no other towns anywhere near Mysidia at all. Cecil walked up to the town and walked in. Cecil looked around and almost immediately the mages recognized him.

"It's the Dark Knight of Baron!" As soon as Cecil heard the cry he went running for the Elder's house, the only place where he might be safe. Cecil didn't even pay attention to the town as he ran straight ahead to the large house that the Elder lived in. Cecil opened the door and closed it quickly behind him. He locked the door and heard people start to try opening it. Cecil walked back towards where he knew the Crystal Room was but stopped when he saw the Elder. Cecil heard the door burst open behind him and went running to the Elder.

"Elder! I need your help!" The Elder turned around and saw the Dark Knight running towards him.

"Why should I help you?" Cecil was about to answer but then he was hit from behind by a magic spell. The Elder's face went red with anger. The mage was beginning to cast another spell but the Elder stopped him.

"Stop this at once!"

The mage had an astonished look on his face and lowered his arms. "Sorry Elder. I just thought we should bring this demon to justice."

"That's enough. All of you leave me with him."

"But Elder! He-"

"I said leave!" The power of the Elder's voice shocked all of the mages in the room and they all left, slowly, but they left. "Now Dark Knight, why should I help you?"

Cecil could feel the pain searing into his back from the spell. Cecil knew the Elder wasn't going to do anything about it till Cecil told him what he needed. "I was one my way to Baron to rescue someone who was taken by Golbez, who now controls Baron and is the one behind taking the Crystals. My group and I were going to Baron to find an airship so we could rescue our friend and get the crystals back. I need to use the Devil's Road to get to Baron and get an airship to save her. Please help me." Cecil could feel tears running down his face, not from the pain in his back, but because of Rosa.

"I see. Mary come her now please!" A White Mage came running into the room.

"Yes Elder?"

"Heal this man. Him and I have to talk about some things."

"Yes Elder." The women laid her hands on Cecil's back and he could feel the power of the Cure spell go through him. The pain in his back started to fade until it was all gone.

"Thank you very much." Cecil stood up and faced the Elder. "Will you open the Devil's Road so I can get to Baron?" Mary walked away as Cecil waited for the Elder's answer.

"You cannot travel to Baron, not yet at least. You are going against a force that is pure evil. There is no way that evil can ever defeat evil. The only way to defeat this Golbez is to fight with the power of light. You must go to Mt. Ordeals to become a Paladin."

"A Paladin?"

"A Light Knight, the exact opposite of the Dark Knight you are now. You must go there and relinquish your Dark Sword for a Holy Sword. Are you ready to face this challenge?"

"Yes I will do whatever it takes to become a Paladin and get rid of this evil inside of me."

"It will be a very difficult journey on your own so I will send some mages with you. Palom! Porom!"

Cecil turned around and saw a small girl walk in. She was wearing a green cape with a regular green shirt and red pants underneath. Her hair was nice and neat in a ponytail behind her head.

"Where's Palom?" The Elder ha d a questioned look on his face but a puff of smoke appeared next to Cecil and a young boy was inside of it when it cleared.

"Some entrance huh?" The little boy wore a cocky smirk on his face. He was dressed similar to the girl in dress, but his hair was a mess on top of his head and his color of clothes were the opposite as well.

"These were the two mages you were speaking of?" Cecil was about to leave without them because he did want to have to baby sit.

"They are two very powerful mages for their young age and they are the only ones who will help you on this trip."

"What I have to help this bastard! I don't want to-" The boy stopped his tirade when the girl hit him on the head.

"Stop that now Palom. I'm sorry for my brother, sir. I'm Porom, a White Mage in training here at Mysidia and that here is my little brat of a brother Palom." She stopped talking and looked at her brother. "Palom introduce yourself to him." She grabbed her brother and brought him in front of him.

"S'up dude?"

"Elder I appreciate the offer but I think I will go alone. I'm not going to baby sit any little kids."

"Don't worry Cecil, you won't have to baby sit them at all, right children?"

"Yes Elder." They answered in unison, but Palom seemed to force it.

"You should leave as soon as possible. It will take the rest of the day to get to Mt. Ordeals. Here is some money to buy the twins some better equipment for the trip up the mountain." The Elder handed him some gil. "That should cover any cost they need."

"Thank you Elder. Ready to go you two?"

"Yeah!" Palom answered with a loud yell while Porom merely nodded.

Cecil went into town and bought them the equipment they would need and they left the town and started head east towards Mt. Ordeals.


End file.
